French influencers have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with the passing of a law aimed at preventing young, impressionable followers from being “scammed” by fake ads and sold cheaply by their stars favorites on social media.
But criticism of their practices has often degenerated into vile abuse on the internet, with Magali Berdah, known as France’s “queen of influencers”, helping this week to put behind bars 28 internet trolls who targeted her.
The mother-of-three told the trial how she suffered such severe abuse, including anti-Semitic and misogynistic insults, that she was “close to throwing herself out of a window”.
She accuses rapper Booba of encouraging trolling, and although he was not among those sentenced Tuesday, he was charged with harassing the TV personality and faces a separate trial.
Both famous in France, the two men have been engaged in a bitter feud since 2022, when Booba, whose real name is Élie Yaffa, launched a campaign against “influvoleurs” – or “thieving influencers” – accusing Berdah of being their “pseudo-manager”. .
Magali Berdah claims to have received tens of thousands of abusive messages online since 2022
The defendants’ actions had “real consequences” on the mother-of-three’s mental health, the court was told.
Booba, whose real name is Élie Yaffa, launched a campaign against “influvoleurs” – or “thieving influencers” – in 2022
The rapper first went to war with influencers in late 2021 after blogger Marc Blata accused him of wearing a fake watch, with Booba saying he had started spreading “all kinds of lies” about him.
“From there, I went to war against him on social networks,” he told the French newspaper. Release.
Booba claimed he knew nothing about social media and reality TV stars, whose work he said made him “want to vomit”, but he began exploring their online world amid the row with Blata.
“It was the discovery of their massive scams that revolted me,” he said in this explosive interview.
“In addition to having no talent, promoting the culture of emptiness, stupidity and not paying their taxes in France, they deceive citizens – especially adolescents – by selling them trash,” he said. he assures.
His research prompted him to look at other social media stars and point to Berdah, who helps market other influencers, as a leader in the industry.
He began calling out Berdah in a series of tweets and used his own followers on X to draw attention to those he accused of being “influvoleurs.”
“This story is not a confrontation, it is a demand for justice,” he said at the time.
“Their totally false world must fall,” he added. “And when this is over, I will bring oranges to Magali Berdah.”
Berdah has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and is a well-known television personality in France
Berdah was the target of rapper Booba, who launched a campaign in 2022 against “thieving influencers” (Photo in archive image, 2019)
As she suffers more and more online abuse from Booba and his followers, Berdah filed a complaint against the rapper, accusing him of “false publications”.
“Since then, I have suffered massive online harassment,” she said, while an investigation into the death threats and other online abuse she suffered was opened in June 2022.
She later posted a statement on Instagram claiming to have received “69,687 threats and insults” in the space of two and a half months.
His complaints then led to the trial, which culminated this week with the sentencing of more than two dozen people aged 20 to 49 to prison terms.
Each of the 28 people convicted “was aware of the cyberharassment suffered by the victim and made the conscious choice to join in,” ruled the Paris court.
Booba was not one of those convicted and denied having led an online “crowd”.
However, he was charged with cyberstalking Berdah in another case, which he denies.
The rapper is accused of having “at least 487 messages on social networks” targeting “directly” Ms. Berdah between May 2022 and May 2023.
Despite these claims, Booba’s campaign to highlight “unethical” practices carried out by influencers has been hailed by many as helping to crack down on false advertising and other bad practices.
Posing as a whistleblower, lawmakers claimed the rapper, known for his number one track Mona Lisa, helped bring the issue to light.
“He is right, Booba, he is right to emphasize that there are abuses (among certain influencers),” declared the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, at the time of the vote on a new law in June 2023.
The aim was to stamp out online scams that saw influencers convince their followers to buy counterfeit products, such as miracle cures, and required them to disclose when they were paid for adverts.
But the repression, combined with increased criticism from Internet users, has “ruined” the careers of certain influencers.
Berdah, of Russian and Ukrainian origin, works as a talent agent and runs several businesses
Reality TV star Julia Paredes claimed to have experienced a significant drop in her income, saying on a podcast: “I’ll tell the truth, months ago I was making between 35,000 and 40,000 euros, and after the controversies, we are now at €5,000.
Massive criticism from influencers, often unfounded, also appears to have damaged Berdah’s business interests.
The businesswoman announced in November that she would sue Booba for 30 million euros, accusing him of launching a defamation campaign against her and her company.
She claimed that the rapper had launched a “monstrous campaign of denigration and destabilization whose sole objective is that (his person and his associates) are both reduced to nothing”.
Berdah has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and is a well-known television personality, also working as a talent agent and running several businesses.
The businesswoman herself will be tried in Nice in September for bankruptcy and money laundering in another case.
Her company, a marketing agency called Shauna Events, is also under investigation for fraud.
“Nothing can justify cyberharassment, especially not the behavior of the targeted person,” said his lawyer.
Berdah and his lawyers vowed to continue his quest for justice for victims of internet abuse, saying after this week’s sentencing that “the fight continues.”